Lufthansa considering bringing the A380 to India this year

While the initial reaction from most carriers about the new rules for the A380 in India was muted, airlines seem to be now coming out of the hiding to make a commitment to the Indian market, or so it seems.

While Singapore Airlines seems to have a low-hanging fruit because of their recently concluded bilateral negotiations with India, it now seems that Lufthansa has also made up their mind to introduce the A380 in India within the year. Christopher Franz, the CEO of Lufthansa, made this statement earlier this week to Reuters:

We are interested to use the A380 also for the major Indian markets

The press also notes that Lufthansa planned to use the jet in India but the launch would be later in the year, since its fleet of 10 A380s is already committed by current schedules. Franz said, “We will likely make it for the winter flight schedule of 2014-2015”.

Ajay is a financial services pro, working to bring order to the chaos of the financial industry on an everyday basis! Beyond that, he dons the hat of India's favourite frequent traveller, trying to help people elevate their travel experience via tips and tricks they never knew before, or introduce them to the world of miles and points.
Armed with an MBA from MDI Gurgaon and graduate degree in computer science from the University of Delhi, Ajay brings a systematic and objective approach on the table for his audience in dissecting travel and loyalty programs in India and around the world, and how to benefit from them.
Ajay has been quoted in various reputed traditional and online media including The Hindustan Times, Inside Flyer, Bloomberg, DNA India, Conde Nast Traveller, The Telegraph, Mumbai Mirror, Mint, MoneyLife and The USA Today.

Comments

It does not matter at this time.
The days of EU carriers in India are numbered.
EY has 40% of the market with 9W for connections to the US.
EK and QR have better planes than EY for India (EK even has F)

LH has downsized MAA already to a A330 from a 747 > 2 yrs ago
and then downsized it further to a 2 class plane from 3 class.
HYD is down worse I think.
BLR, BOM and DEL get the747 and even if you change to a A380 to DEL,
that is not going to change the mindset of cheap US connections via the ME.

The only good thing for LH is that AF and BA are worse off.
LH still has LX, OS etc feeding the market and hopefully AI as well soon.

@Sanjiv, I think the war was on both sides, where Lufthansa pulled the first punches in 2011 as well by renegading on their initial promise. Like I’ve written on this blog earlier, India almost had an open skies treatment for LH for a while, so they struck back.

Which route did you travel on 9W? I have my complains with them, but they are the better of the lot.